Three Weeks Later... (Christmas Review)

So, it's been a little crazy around here and it has been MUCH harder than I thought it would be to get back into the reality of working full time after having almost a week and a half off for Christmas break.  We truly enjoying just relaxing as a family.  Tryg was home from daycare and Erik and I were both home from work.  We LOVED it!  We stayed up late and slept in every day (Tryg slept in too --fantastic!!).  We rarely had anything specific planned besides family gatherings.  So, we just did what we wanted.  It was a wonderful way to celebrate Christ's birth and cherish family.  Tues, Jan. 3rd hit hard and even though I still have not worked a full week, I am struggling to get back into the swing of real life.  I also get Monday off for Martin Luther King Day, which is great, but not helping the whole "real life thing."

So, here are some pics to capture the week and a half over Christmas:

 Gifts under the tree.  I enjoyed wrapping the gifts in a simple way this year.

 

 This pretty much sums up the Santa photo experience: 

                     

(Although it was nice that we got a picture with the same Santa as last year)

Tryg had a blast with his 2nd cousin, Calvin, on Christmas Eve when we went to Erik's Aunt & Uncle's house.

 Santa came to our house on Christmas morning.  Tryg really loved opening gifts this year!

 On Christmas day Tryg got a wagon from Grandma Sue and Bompa Randy.  As you can see, he loved it.

 The day after Christmas we celebrated with my family at Grandma and Papa Elsbecker's house.  The kids loved opening gifts and playing together.

(Tryg liked wearing Cousin Kya's new bike helmet & stealing the candy that Grandma put on the coffee table)

 Tryg spent A LOT of time in the tub since he got the stomach bug that was hitting all the homes in the midwest.  He got it two different times.  Poor kid was just not doing well, but we did our best to keep him clean and hydrated!

 Tryg also found new loves...  Thomas the Tank Engine (or "Choo Choo") and Elmo (or "Melmo") are now common guests in our home...books, toys, and video with either one of the two are requested frequently by our little boy.  We are not even really sure how it happened.  It's not like we pushed it at all!  He only has one book with Thomas and a couple things that happen to have Elmo on them.  He also has a million other toys, cars and books with a million other characters on them.  How is it that kids just gravitate to these two things!?!  I blame daycare! (haha, sorry Jennifer) :)

We hope that you also had a great Christmas!  We're hoping for a fantastic 2012.  It already started out pretty well....I got a new job!!  I'll share more about that in another post, but I got a job as the Assistant Registrar at Bethel University.  I'm glad that I'll still be at Bethel and hoping this will also be a good fit for me.